In Bulgaria you will learn about the Rosa damascena. It can take 60 of these roses to produce a single drop of the precious rose oil,
making it the most costly perfume material of the world.You will learn how the change from communism affected the rose culture of 300 years, and watch the traditional Rose Festival in the rose valley. You will be taken on a journey to see the rose fields and learn the therapeutic properties of rose oil.
In Provence, southern France, you will learn the difference in the distillation of lavender oil for its medicinal value versus distillation of lavender for the fragrance industry.
In the lavender fields, you can view original and hybrid varieties of lavender, while in the distillery, we discover the alchemy for obtaining essential oils.
In colorful Brazil, you will discover the shamanistic way of the Ioruba people of Africa in using plants. You will learn the mythology and story of the forest God Ossaim and the relationship of Ioruba Goddesses with aromatic plants . You will view the ritual involving aromatic plants and flowers in scented baths.
In India, you will hear about a new method of extraction to obtain the aromatic oil from jasmine flowers, the phytonics process, while receiving a field demonstration by English scientist Peter Wilde. You will also visit a incense factory in Auroville where you can see the entire process of stick incense making. You will learn the ancient world way of thinking on the use of jasmine oil as an aphrodisiac.
In Tunisia, Muslim north Africa, you will learn about the fragrant bitter orange blossoms, while visiting the beautiful fields.You will take a look at the production of the sedative neroli oil in the actual production facility and learn about the traditional Tunisian orange flower water or hydrolate.
